


They Both Died

by GypsySisters



Category: The OA (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Or Is It?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 13:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GypsySisters/pseuds/GypsySisters





	They Both Died

The thing that nobody realized was that Hap died that day. When Prairie pushed him and he fell down the stairs, pummeling headfirst over metal steps and into the limestone, he broke his neck, blacked out and died.

 _Whoosh_.

He walked over rocky earth, entered a hut filled with void and starlight and met the angel of his fate. “Are you supposed to be here to console me… that death isn’t the end?”

“No, my child,” she said, holding out her hand for him to approach.

He scoffed, turning away. “I do not belong here. There’s work left to be done.”

The angel considered. “You wish to return?”

“Yes,” Hap replied, without hesitation.

“I can send you back, but I will need something from you, as well. A fair trade.” The woman indicated a small round window in the door that he had not seen before.

Hap walked over and gazed out to see… it's her… it’s Prairie, looking around, dazed and confused… but how was that possible?! “Is she… is she dead?!... Did she die, too?!” Despite the peacefulness of the place, he is panicked and anxious. His heart is racing, pounding… surely it’s so loud anyone could hear it. Not his Prairie. His light. She can’t have died.

No!

“She ran out, away from you, and fell over the cliff,” the angel explained. “Died from falling, just like you.”

Hap wants to run to her, embrace her, comfort her, and rejoice with her at the magnificence of this place, of this afterlife.

The angel sees his heart plainly. “You can go. Be with her in eternal peace. Or you can return, leave her here, and continue your work.”

Hap spun around, reproachfully. “How dare you make me choose! How could I leave her?! The work is nothing without her. She is the key!”

The angel replied, “To obtain great knowledge you must make great sacrifice.”

Hap sucked his teeth, longing out the window one last time before returning to the angel to kneel at her feet. “Alright. I accept your bargain.”

Then the angel rose, walked over to a pool in the floor, and, pulling out a sword, she did not hesitate before running him through the heart.

Shocked, feeling betrayed, Hap grasped his chest and looked up at her. Why? How could she?!

“You will suffer greatly, for you will learn how to love, and with that will come great pain. I give you the gift, now, of preparing you for how your heart will break, for it will break, deeper than you know.”

As Hap pulled the sword from his chest, the area around the wound started to glow. “What… what is happening to me?”  
“It is your time to go.” The woman led him to a door in the back of the hut, hidden in darkness. “You must leave before she comes in. Hurry now.”

She ushered him out, and he stumbled into the surreal, rocky landscape. Walking back to the spot from which he’d came, he paused to look back at the hut.

She was inside.

He would leave her here.

This was the price he had to pay.

For a moment, he thought he saw a glimmer at the door… was she inside looking out at him right now?!

It didn’t matter. It was time to walk away. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe she’d find peace, away from him.

He disappeared into a fog and woke up on the floor, the screams of the subjects in his ears.

His first thought was for her. Was it real? Or just a dream? He had to know her fate.

He rushed out the door, through the woods, to the edge of the cliff, heart pounding. And there she was, 20 feet down, head bleeding on the rocks.

There was not a moment to lose.

With a beep to his watch, he recorded his timing. He raced down the cliff, checked her non-existent pulse, and scooped her up, carrying her as he sprinted back to his house.

Laid out on the bed, he tried to put the angel’s admonishment out of his mind. No. He would not lose her. He couldn’t. He can’t.

He administered CPR. Breathed for her. Pounded against her chest. Filled a syringe and gave her a jolt of adrenaline. But nothing worked.

“Please, Prairie, don't leave me.” He prostrated himself over her bed, pleading. But it was no use. She was gone.

Resigned to their fate, he brought over his camera. Maybe he could at least record her one last time, before she went the way of August.

And just as he set up the camera, he heard it. A quick intake of breath. He was shocked. Dumbfounded.

Looking over at her, her eyes fluttered. She filled the room with the softness of her presence.

She… she came back.


End file.
